> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://discoverthemes.com/blog/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Free Ghost themes compared: Source, Casper, London and Ruby - URL: https://discoverthemes.com/blog/free-ghost-themes-compared/ - Published: 2026-11-10T03:37:41.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-10T04:42:27.000Z - Description: Source for a newsletter, Casper for a classic blog, London for photos, Ruby for lots of posts. - Author: Harish Chouhan - Tags: Ghost Themes Pick a free Ghost theme by what a reader should see first: a signup box, one big story, a wall of photos or a grid of cards. That is the real difference between Source, Casper, London and Ruby. I ran all four on one site with the same 15 posts, so only the theme changed. ## Home pages Every image runs in the same order: Source, Casper, London, Ruby. Tap an image to open it full size. [![Home page of Source, Casper, London and Ruby at desktop width, in a 2 by 2 grid](https://discoverthemes.com/blog/content/images/2026/11/web-free-themes-home-desktop.jpg)](https://discoverthemes.com/blog/content/images/2026/11/web-free-themes-home-desktop.jpg) Desktop homepages [![Home page of Source, Casper, London and Ruby on a phone, in a row](https://discoverthemes.com/blog/content/images/2026/11/web-free-themes-home-mobile.jpg)](https://discoverthemes.com/blog/content/images/2026/11/web-free-themes-home-mobile.jpg) Mobile homepages ## Post pages [![Post page of Source, Casper, London and Ruby at desktop width, in a 2 by 2 grid](https://discoverthemes.com/blog/content/images/2026/11/web-free-themes-post-desktop.jpg)](https://discoverthemes.com/blog/content/images/2026/11/web-free-themes-post-desktop.jpg) Desktop post pages [![Post page of Source, Casper, London and Ruby on a phone, in a row](https://discoverthemes.com/blog/content/images/2026/11/free-themes-post-mobile.png)](https://discoverthemes.com/blog/content/images/2026/11/free-themes-post-mobile.png) Mobile post pages ## Strengths and weaknesses ### Source A full-width hero with an email signup box, then your posts in a plain list. Post pages are a narrow text column with a tag, a summary and a Share button. - **Strength:** the most flexible of the four. It has 19 settings, including five header styles, so you can change a lot without touching code. The signup box sits on the first screen. - **Weakness:** on a phone the hero fills the whole first screen, so your posts start below it. The list layout is plain, and it is the theme most Ghost sites already use. ### Casper A centred title and tagline over a cover image, with the featured post large beside its image. Posts use serif body text, and your accent colour runs across the whole top bar. - **Strength:** it feels like a personal blog. One featured story gets the spotlight, and you can choose a light, dark or auto colour scheme and a classic, grid or list feed (10 settings). - **Weakness:** one story gets the big space and the rest wait below it. The first screen depends on your cover image, so a weak image shows. ### London A huge centred headline with big image tiles right under it. On a phone the home page is a stack of photos with the titles written over them. - **Strength:** your photos do all the work, which suits photographers and visual magazines. - **Weakness:** it is only as good as your images, so text-heavy posts look bare. It has just 3 settings, so changes beyond fonts and the menu mean editing code. ### Ruby Four columns of small cards on desktop, each with an image, tag, title, summary and author. It is one card per row on a phone. - **Strength:** the quickest to scan. A reader sees many posts at once, which suits a site with lots to browse. - **Weakness:** every post gets the same small card, so nothing stands out. The type is the smallest of the four and it has only 4 settings. ## How heavy each theme is I added up each theme's own files on a local site. All four come to about 8 to 10 KB of CSS and 18 KB of JavaScript once compressed. Ghost's own scripts and your images weigh far more than that. ## What none of them do - None has a layout built for a specific format, such as a recipe index or a travel itinerary. - There is no dedicated support for these themes unless you host with Ghost.org. ## Which one to pick - **Newsletter or general blog:** [Source](https://ghost.org/themes/source/?ref=discoverthemes.com). - **Personal blog with a classic feel:** [Casper](https://ghost.org/themes/casper/?ref=discoverthemes.com). - **Photography or a portfolio:** [London](https://ghost.org/themes/london/?ref=discoverthemes.com). - **Many posts, quick scanning:** [Ruby](https://ghost.org/themes/ruby/?ref=discoverthemes.com). - **Something more specific:** try [Edition](https://ghost.org/themes/edition/?ref=discoverthemes.com) for newsletters, [Edge](https://ghost.org/themes/edge/?ref=discoverthemes.com) for photography, [Episode](https://ghost.org/themes/episode/?ref=discoverthemes.com) for podcasts, [Ease](https://ghost.org/themes/ease/?ref=discoverthemes.com) for docs or [Headline](https://ghost.org/themes/headline/?ref=discoverthemes.com) for news. If none of them feels right, read [how to choose a Ghost theme](https://discoverthemes.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-ghost-theme/) before you spend money. Versions tested: Ghost 6.54, Source 1.7.1, Casper 5.12.1, London 1.0.0, Ruby 1.0.0\. Newer releases of Source and Casper exist.